Brake



March 24, 1942. o. G. NELSON 2,277,134

BRAKE Filed June 28, 1940 INVEN TOR O. 6. NELSON A T TORNEV Patented Mar. 24, 1942 BRAKE .Oscar G. Nelson, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 28, 1940, Serial No. 342,872

Claims.

This invention relates to brakes, and more particularly to brakes of the type associated with material supporting supply spools, reels or the like for creating tension on the material while being removed therefrom.

Numerous material handling machines employ various types of means for creating desired tensions on the materials as they are drawn from a supply spool, reel or the like. The amount of tension created depends upon the type of material being handled and ofttimes upon the results desired. In most all cases it is important, in order to obtain the most satisfactoryiresults, that the most eflicient tension should be kept constant. This is particularly true in handling finer materials, such as textile strands, or other strands such as electrical conductors, and when such tension creating means consists of brakes exposed where dust, lint and other foreign particles may vary the effectiveness of such brakes, constant tension on materials controlled thereby cannot be maintained.

An object of the invention is to provide a brake which is simple in construction, highly dependable for maintaining accurate constant braking force and readily variable.

With this and other objects in view, the invention comprises a brake having a rotatable element with braking means as well as brake varying means sealed in a housing against interference by foreign particles, the brake varying means being accessible externally of the housing to cause the brake means to apply a constant yet selectively variable braking force to the rotatable element.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary detailed view of a portion of a flier of a twisting machine selected to illustrate the invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the brake shown associated with a supply reel, portions being shown in elevation, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawing, particularly Fig. 1, arms l0 and H are portions of a flier of a twisting machine wherein a plurality of reel supports [2 is disposed, only one being shown in this figure. The twisting machine in the present embodiment is employed to twist a plurality of strands, such as insulated electrical conductors [4, together in the formation of an electrical cable. The strand I4 is removed from a supply reel l5 and passes upwardly through a' guide It in the upper neck of the support 12, where the support is rotatably mounted by the aid of a bearing [1 in the arms H. The support l2 in general spreads outwardly in somewhat of a loop about the supply reel and has a projection I! at its lower end merging into a shaft (not shown) which carries a gear or other suitable means to connect the support to a driving means (not shown) to cause rotation of the support while being moved in a circular path by the arms II and l I. The sides of the support carry units for removably supporting the reel l5. One unit, at the left, is a removable bearing 20, provided with a cone center 2i, the latter being of a truncated cone contour. At the right the brake, indicated generally at 22, constitutes the other unit and is mounted in the support as illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3.

The brake 22, which constitutes the main feature of the invention, has a housing 23 provided with an annular flange 24 receivable in an annular recess 25 of the support l2, while the outer portion of the housing extends through an aperture 26 in the support. Suitable means, such as screws 21, is provided to removably secure the housing in the support. A cover 30 is provided to assist in supporting the brake means disposed in the housing and also close the housing against dust or other foreign particles which might interfere with the effectiveness of the brake means.

A rotatable element in the form of a hollow shaft 3| has a disk-like guard 32 mounted adjacent one end thereof and supports a cone center 33. The cone center 33 is of a truncated cone contour similar to the center 2! and these centers are partially receivable in the ends of a hub 34 adjacent the heads of the reel l5. An enlarged portion of the hollow shaft 3| adjacent the disk-like guard 32 provides a shoulder 36 for supporting an annular member 31, the latter covering a bearing 38 and filling the space between the shaft and the cover 30, which is apertured at 40, to receive the bearing.

A sleeve 4| isdisposed upon the hollowshaft 3| and fixed thereto for rotation therewith. The sleeve 4| has one end disposed in engagement with .the inner race portion of the bearing 33 and one end disposed in engagement with the inner race portion of another bearing 44. The

bearing 44 is disposed in a suitable recess in the housing 23 and assists the bearing 38 in support-. ing the shaft 3|. Two sets of brake membersof disks 45 and 46 are disposed alternately in the housing concentric with the shaft 3| and sleeve 4|. The disks 45 have radially projecting integral lugs 48 at their outer peripheries which are slidably disposed in elongate grooves 49 in the housing 23, which structure permits lateral movement of the disks 45 axially of the shaft 3| but holds the disks against rotation with the latter. Apertures 56 are provided in the disks 45 to receive aligned rows of friction members 5| formed of suitable material, such as cork, and of suitable thickness to project outwardly upon each side of their respective disks. The disks 46 have similar integral lugs 53 which are disposed at their inner peripheries, projecting inwardly into elongate grooves 54 in the sleeve 4| to condition the disks 46 for longitudinal movement relative to the sleeve and for rotatable movement therewith. 7

Means is provided to hold the brake members, that is, the disks 45 with their cork members 5| and the disks 46, in definite relative positions to maintain constant frictional engagement or braking force one with the other'and to vary the friction or braking force to vary the tension on the strand l4. This means consists of an annular member 56 disposed concentric with the sleeve 4| adjacent the innermost disk 46 and formed to support one end of an expansible helical spring 59, the other end of the spring being supported by another annular member 66 similar to the annular member 58 except for the provision of a groove 6| for receiving the ends of a pin 62. The pin 62 is carried, by a piston-like member 63 movably disposed in the hollow shaft and controlled as to its position therein by an adjusting screw 64, the latter being threadedly disposed axially of the shaft in the outer end thereof. Elongate apertures 66 and 61 in the shaft 3| and the sleeve 4|, respectively, in aligned diametrically opposed positions permit movement of the pin 62 longitudinally thereof.

The entire brake means disposed in the housing 23 may be assembled on the: shaft 3| outside the housing and then inserted in place and held by suitable means, such as screws 16, passing through the cover 30 and into threaded apertures in the inner end of the housing 23. For example, the shaft 3| with its disk-like guard 32 and cone center 33 may be disposed in a vertical position and while in this position the cover 35 may be disposed concentric therewith and mounted thereon by positioning the annular member 31 in place and then positioning the bearing 38 on the shaft and in the aperture 46 of the cover. disks 45 and 46 disposed thereon may then be disposed on the shaft 3|. The annular members 53 and 60 with their spring 59 therebetween may be positioned on the sleeve 4|, after which the piston-like member 63 may be inserted in the shaft through the cone center 33 and the pin 62 disposed in place extending through the aligned apertures 66 and 61 and through the aperture in the member 63. If desirable, proper adjustment of the spring 59 may be made through the adjustment of the screw 64. The bearing 44 may then be disposed upon the shaft 3| in engagement with the adjacent end of the sleeve 4| and when this has been accomplished an annular member 12 similar to the annular member 31 is disposed adjacent the bearing 44 and this entire assembly is secured in place by a nut 13 positioned on the threaded nut 14 of the shaft 3| and located in place by a suitable lock washer indicated at -15. This assembled The sleeve 4| with the sets of mechanism may then be inserted in the housing and held in place by the insertion of the screws 16 to secure the cover to the housing. In assembling disks 45 they are positioned with the groups of projecting integral lugs 48 in aligned rows so that when the assembly is disposed in the housing the projections will ride in their respective grooves 49. This entire assembly is held in place by the screws which may be driven in place by a suitable tool passing through apertures 16 in the disk-like guard 32. The assembled parts of the shaft 3| as well" as the interior of the housing may be freed of foreign particles by suitable methods just prior to the completion of the assembly.

In preparing the apparatus for operation a supply reel I5 is disposed in place between cone centers 2| and 33, the bearing 26 being movable for the insertion and removal of reels in place. The strand is then threaded through the guide l6 and to other parts of the apparatus (not shown) and the apparatus set in motion to draw the strand from the reel under a predetermined tension controlled by the brake 22. In handling strands, particularly fine strands, 'it is important that the tension thereon be constant. If the tension is lower than that desired the strands may not twist evenly and if the tension on the strand is higher than that desired breakage of the strand may readily occur and the range between the low and the high tension of such fine materials is extremely short. It is, therefore, important that the braking force on the shaft which creates the tension on the strand be adjusted to accomplish the desired tension and that nothing be allowed to interfere with the braking means which might cause variation in the braking force. For this reason the entire braking means is housed against 'foreign particles which might affect the frictional contact between the disks 46 and the members 5| should such be allowed to come in contact therewith. The term foreign particles is meant to include dust, lint and various other particles which might be present in the air and interfere with the braking means if such were exposed to the air.

Once the device is assembled it is not necessary to open the housing and expose the contents, in order to make adjustments in the mechanism to vary the braking force. This may be accomplished externally of the housing by rotating the screw64 in one direction or the other, to vary the tension of the spring 59, through movement of the member 63 and pin 62, to thus varythe force against the disks 46 and members 5|.

It will, therefore, be observed that the shaft 3| with its sleeve 4| may be termed a rotatable element, with means such as the disks 46 and the members 5| controlled by the spring 59 to apply constant braking force to the rotatable element. It will further be observed that the entire braking force is housed against foreign particles which might interfere with the effectiveness of the braking means should the latter be exposed to an atmosphere containing such particles. It will be further observed that the braking means may be varied to vary the braking force on the rotary element, which in turn controls the tension of strand or other material paid off a reel or other suitable supporting means associated with the element, without exposing the braking means to the atmosphere, through the aid of a member accessible externally of the housing and axially of the rotatable element.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be modified and widely departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A brake comprising an assembly of a rotatable element, spaced bearing members disposed on the element, brake members disposed around the element certain of which are connected for rotation with the element, a spring positioned around the element between the bearings to apply a force to the brake members, and means to hold the bearing members, brake members and spring in the assembly, a housing to receive the assembly and hold the remaining brake members against rotation with the element, and means to secure the assembly in the housing.

2. A brake comprising an assembly of a rotatable element, spaced bearing members disposed on the element, brake members disposed around the element certain of which are connected for rotation with the element, a spring positioned around the element between the bearings to apply a force to the brake members, means carried by the element to vary the force of the spring to vary braking force of the brake members on the element, and means to hold the bearing members, brake members and spring in the assembly, a housing to receive the assembly and hold the remaining brake members against rotation with the element, and means to secure the assembly in the housing.

3. A brake comprising an assembly of a rotatable element, spaced bearing members disposed on the element, brake members disposed around the element certain of which are connected for rotation with the element, a spring positioned around the element between the bearings to apply a force to the brake members, and means to hold the bearing members, brake members and spring in the assembly, a housing to receive the assembly, support the bearing members and hold the remaining brake members against rotation with the element, and means to secure the assembly in the housing.

4. A brake comprising an assembly of a rotatable element, spaced bearing members disposed on the element, brake members disposed around the element certain of which are connected for rotation with the element, a spring positioned around-the element between the bearings to apply a force to the brake members, means carried by the element to vary the force of the spring to vary braking force of the brake members on the element, and means to hold the bearing members, brake members and spring in the assembly, a housing to receive the assembly, hold the remaining brake members against rotation with the element and provide external access to the force varying means, and means to secure the assembly in the housing.

5. A brake comprising a rotatable element, a housing mounted against rotation with the element, spaced hearings in the housing to rotatably support the element, annular brake members disposed in the housing between the bearings for movement axially of the element and connected alternately to the housing and the element, a spring disposed in the housing concentric with the element to apply a force uniformly to the brake members, and actuable means accessible for actuation externally of the housing to affect the spring to vary the force applied to the brake members.

OSCAR G. NELSON. 

